Five Strange Facts About 9/11

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11 when terrorists took over four airplanes in the United States and crashed them into three buildings. The fourth plane was forced down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. During the attacks, more than 3000 Americans lost their lives on that day and the country was brought together to fight off this evil. There are some questions behind the events of that day, though. Are they coincidences? I’d like to believe that they are just conspiracies, but many people think that the government was trying to hide something sinister. Read the evidence and let us know what you think.

THE MYSTERY BEHIND BUILDING 7’S COLLAPSE

While the Twin Towers were obviously hit by two airplanes, Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex fell later that afternoon. While the truth was not disclosed before the public, information came out that it was through the media’s intervention that a fire broke down the structure of Building 7 after the other two buildings collapsed. The building fell straight downward in a free-fall like the Twin Towers. Conspiracy theorists suggest that the building was demolished, but typically demolition takes weeks of prep work to do. What happened here? The topic was avoided by the 9/11 Commission.

EVIDENCE DESTROYED

Supposedly, never in the history of construction has steel melted to the point of collapse due to a fire. The structural failure of construction-grade steel is 90% at 800° C (1432°F). However, steel doesn’t melt until it reaches 1400°C (2552°F). Jet fuel burns at about 537°C (1000°F) – not enough to make steel collapse…BUT…that would be the temperature to have the steel melt quickly. The towers didn’t fall right away. They fell over an hours worth of time, which could be because of something called Heat Capacity and Thermal Conductivity (sorry to get all ‘Science Guy’ on everyone). Basically, this means that if you apply heat to something over a period of time, you can have construction failure. Who knows, though? What is strange is that the evidence to see if explosions or heat caused the collapse was immediately melted down after the event. This doesn’t fit with typical crime scene evidence.

PLANS WERE CHANGED

On a typical Tuesday morning, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani would have been on the 23rd floor of the WTC Building 7. If he had been there, he could have witnessed the tragic moment from his own command center. A meeting was scheduled for that morning, but was cancelled just hours before. Changes and supposed warnings weren’t for him alone, though:

According to some sources, Zim American Israeli Shipping Co. broke a lease in order to vacate the World Trade Center just days before the attack. Zim’s lease extended through the end of the year and that the termination cost $50,000.

Jim Pierce, cousin of President Bush, was scheduled to attend a conference on the 105th floor of the South Tower, where his company’s New York offices were based. But the conference was moved across the street to the Millennium Hotel, because, the story goes, the group was too large.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown admitted to having received a warning from what he described as his airport security late Monday evening, just hours before the attack.

Salman Rushdie, who is under the continuous protection of Scotland Yard, was prevented from flying on September 11th, 2001.

What do you think may have been the real reasons these changes were made?

PRESIDENTIAL GAFFE?

It is well-documented that during the attacks, President George W. Bush was reading a book to a group of elementary school children in Sarasota, Florida. It was during this time that White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, interrupted to tell him that a second airplane had hit the World Trade Center. He remained calm for seven minutes before leaving the school to get back onto Air Force One. Some sources state that Press Secretary Ari Fleischer held up a note pad in the back of the room stating to “Stay Calm” although the press that attended never mentioned this. Later, President Bush would state, “I was sitting outside the classroom and I saw an airplane hit the tower”. Did he mean that he saw an airplane hit tower one? or two? Did he mean he saw the video of the plane hitting the second tower? Personally, I think what he saw was a video of the second airplane hitting the second tower. Conspiracy theorists think otherwise.

THE JERSEY GIRLS

Do you remember these women? They were four widows of people who died within the Towers. They sought justice for their husbands and even brought questions about the organized 9/11 Commission. They wanted to know why the 9/11 Commission took over a month to put together when inquiries on Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy Assassination were convened in less than a week. They wanted to know why there were terrorist warnings about using jumbo jets to hit buildings, but went unheeded. They wanted to know why President Bush had a plan to invade Afghanistan prior to 9/11 and already was trying to link Saddam Hussein to the attacks. Their claims were not heard by the commission and were even rejected. President Bush ended his term without answering the complaints and queries of the victims’ families.